Mele Bulls have once again proven their dominance in club competitions with strong wins against Paama Sharks in the Barrett & Partners Men’s T20 grand final and Power House in the Girls U19 grand final.

In the men’s grand final, Mele Bulls played against Paama Sharks who won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Patrick Matautaava and Trevor Langa opened the batting for the Bulls and got off to a soaring start which saw Matautaava score 37 runs off 19 balls before the Sharks gave him a send-off with a catch on the boundary.

Langa’s wicket fell shortly after and the Bulls lost their batting momentum and gave Sharks’ spinners, Stephane Sandy (2/30) and Obed Yosef (3/19) an opportunity to restrict them to just 129 runs at the end of their inning.

Paama Sharks with a target of 130 runs to win had a slower start to their inning compared to the Bulls with wickets of opening batsmen, William Yamak and Jamal Vira cheaply falling during power play. Apo Stephen (24) and Bethan Moli (20) with hopes to maintain a partnership top scored for the Sharks in the final but Jelany Chilia (3/22) and Rival Samson (4/12) spined them all out for 91 runs in the 18th over.

Mele Bulls reclaimed their men’s T20 title with a 38 runs victory over the Paama Sharks and Jelany Chilia picked up the Player of the match for his contribution with the ball in the field and with the bat.

Michael Avok from the Paama Sharks picked up the bowler of the tournament award with 13 wickets to his name across the tournament and Clement Tommy from Tafea Sandalwood was awarded as the batsmen of the tournament with 362 runs to his name in the tournament.

In the girls’ U19 club championship final on Saturday the 2nd of June, Power House won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Mele Bulls.

With 10 overs to play, Mele Bulls struggled to score runs but Netty Chilia (18) and Lua Soromon stood their grounds and set runs on the scoreboard for the Bulls until Power House responded with Julianna Taravaki (3/10) and Alison William (2/3) bowling the bulls all out for 59 runs in the 9th over.

Power House with a target of 60 runs and a required run rate of 6 runs an over to win, opened their batting well with Gillian Chilia and Julianna Taravaki taking turns on strike on the pitch. Netty Chilia responded for the Bulls and took Gillian Chilia’s Wicket which was then followed by consecutive fall of wickets for the Powerhouse.

Power House fell 10 runs short from their target after they were bowled out for 49 runs in the 9.4 over of their inning.

Netty Chilia (18) was awarded as the player of the match for her outstanding knock with the bat and great performance with the ball and in the field.

Vanuatu Cricket would like to acknowledge Barrett & Partners for their continuous support and sponsorship of the men’s T20 club championship and Azure Pure Water for constantly supplying water for our athletes to stay hydrated and fit during competitions.

The VCA would also like to congratulate the finalists in both competitions and the Mele Bulls for their great performance.